Julian Wood

About Julian Wood
Julian works on our economics project, primarily examining regional development in New Zealand. With a Master’s in Social Science from Waikato University, Julian brings a depth of experience from his time working as a senior policy analyst for the Department of Labour, where he focused on labour market dynamics, minimum wage and employment legislation, regional development, business dynamics, and immigration.
Most Recent Activity

A permanent solution to our seasonal problem
By Julian Wood
In February this year, Maxim Institute called for a shift away from New Zealand’s over-reliance on temporary workers towards investing…
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Book Club 4 | Small is Beautiful
In the course of the last generation, mantras of excess have driven our culture of consumption. Bigger is better, greed…
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Julian Wood on the economy, employment and election promises
Last month we released senior researcher Julian Wood’s latest research paper on Active Labour Market Policies, looking at the ways…
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Creativity needed to support new jobs
By Julian Wood
In the economic battle against COVID-19, there was hope we might all “be home for Christmas;” a hope that wage…
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Asking the big questions on Social Insurance
By Julian Wood
Back in May the Government signalled its interest in exploring new forms of unemployment insurance saying: “we have an opportunity…
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Back To Work – Paper Release
We’ve recently released Julian Wood’s paper Back To Work, at the release we have had coverage over various media outlets….
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Policy Paper | Back to Work
By Julian Wood
Nations around the world are expecting low or negative growth and higher unemployment rates as a result of fighting COVID-19….
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Investing in a resilient workforce
By Julian Wood
When the Government closed New Zealand’s borders in response to COVID-19, flaws in our labour market were exposed. Not only…
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Government should save jobs by “plugging gaps” in council budgets
By Julian Wood
Auckland Council is forecasting a $525 million dollar hole in its budget as a result of COVID-19. It’s not alone….
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COVID-19 economic analysis – 20.05.2020
By Julian Wood
The following is an overview and commentary on economic information available from Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and the Government’s 2020/21…
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Invest in people alongside new infrastructure
By Julian Wood
The euphoria we are all feeling after entering Level 2 will be tempered by the pain of pay cuts and…
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COVID-19 economic analysis – 22.04.2020
By Julian Wood
Analysis of Treasury’s scenario forecasts (released 13 April) and weekly economic commentary (released 17 April), by Senior Researcher Julian Wood…
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But now, who pays?
By Julian Wood
On Tuesday last week, the New Zealand Treasury outlined five economic scenarios that aimed to depict how the economy may…
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Charities to be squeezed on both sides
By Julian Wood
In an unprecedented move, last week the Government announced a $12.1 billion package to combat the economic impact of Covid-19….
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Migration Policy Paper: A Welcome That Works
By Julian Wood
Over the last 30 years, New Zealand has become over reliant on temporary work migration as a way to solve…
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A welcome that works
By Julian Wood
In the 90’s the regions cried out for workers to pick fruit, plant trees and generally do a range of…
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Good migration policy is about more than just jobs
By Julian Wood
Recent political posturing over partnership visas and arranged marriages is a troubling distraction that derails the real, necessary debates we…
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Review our reliance on temporary workers
By Julian Wood
New Zealanders are heavy users of temporary work migration, so it was disappointing that no-one seriously discussed this last week…
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Checking our climate blind spots
By Julian Wood
When it comes to emissions it is easy for us to obsess about factories and farmers as if these activities…
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Preparing for economic downturn
By Julian Wood
There’s been a lot of recent chat about a possible economic downturn, and many seem to be living under the…
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